The thing is they haven't even come up with a message or "demands" as they call it, or didn't for most of the time they have been down there. I watched their stream for the first three or four days very intently and have peeked in every once the last few days to stay updated.
They have these "General Assemblies" which would basically be a meeting of all the protesters getting together to discuss the various logistical issues since they really don't have a traditional top-down structure or hierarchy organizing this event they take turns speaking in a "stack" basically a line of people taking turns at the megaphone or the "people's mic" or "human mic" if the police do not allow them to use a megaphone, especially after 9:00pm.
Anyway, yes there are some people down there that are commies, anti-capitalist, anarchists, anti what have you, etc. I'm not going to deny it. But the number of these people are relatively small compared to the number of total participants of this protest. Those types of people (the commies) show up at every protest regardless of what it is in New York, those that have been to a protest in New York will understand this. They have been there at every anti-war protest since before we even went into Iraq and long before that I'm sure, this is New York after all. They are going to talk to anyone that is willing to let them speak as does any organization in New York that tries to build regardless of what it is, they will go to where the people are.
I speak from experience I was at the pre-Iraq anti war protest/march/rally in 2003 and I remember them (the commies) being there trying to convince others the benefits of communism. I remember an assortment of various different ethnic backgrounds and everyone across the political spectrum coming together for the anti war event. There were so many people down one street that the police were closing that the people were being pushed by the police right into some police on horse back on the other side of the street only to get trampled on because of the police miscommunication of what streets could actually be used. It was poorly planned and some suspected the police was giving false information on what streets were available to frustrate and confuse those that were participating in the protest so they would go home. I remember reading on the web and being told by the police what subway stations were open so protesters could get off the train cars and join the crowds only to find those stations closed. I also remember very clearly one individual in the middle of time square after the rally/march started to break up waving a HUGE Anarchy flag which the police immediately closed in on. But anyway that's another story. What I'm trying to say is trust me when I say every possible person from every political belief or economic belief came out of the wood work for that event and it was well over 200,000 participating. This was before I ever heard the name Ron Paul.
You can read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15,_2003_anti-war_protest#New_York
Anyway getting back to this protest the numbers of the people you describe (the commies) are actually very small in comparison to the total percentage of people that are down there. Like I said I was watching these people for the first few days and to be honest they didn't even have a common set of "demands" or a argument that was being used to describe their protest. During these "general assemblies" they would talk about needing to get to a list of "demands" or a message, I remember one particular person grabbing the megaphone and saying, we seriously need to have a vote and some suggestions on what our message is, because I'm tired of people coming up to me and asking and I don't know what to tell them! He got a round of applause from that. Why? Because the majority of the people down there only know their frustration with the economy and they have seen protests around the world and somewhat understand that there is something wrong but they are not sure what exactly it is or how to deal with it. They were convinced by other protests around the world and in the past that this is something we can do that isn't violent and isn't illegal. Anonymous and other internet groups convinced enough of them to do a protest around Wall Street and so they did.
LOL this kind of reminds me of the movie the Matrix, the majority of those people know there is a problem but they just don't know clearly where the problem comes from but they know it is real. I would say 80+ percent of the people down there are looking for a message all they need to do is be introduced to one that is based on fact, logic and reason and they will meet us half way. But it is up to us to reach out to them otherwise they will be co-opted by those groups you have the most issue with. Basically exactly what happen to the Tea Party post 2008.
Okay LOL I have another way to explain it:
80% of the people down there is these people:
[video=vimeo;13504985]http://vimeo.com/13504985[/video]
LOL HAHHAHAHAHA I knew one day South Park would be useful in making a point about political organizations.
But yea, ok they maybe completely confused right? Like I said they have some understanding that there is a problem but they can't put their finger on it, LOL.
Or more importantly what to do about it! This is where we need to come in.
This is so close to the truth too, I wish you guys would have watched the stream early on, I mean you can still even if you watch the stream now get a sense that they are not completely sure what they are doing as I guess any grassroots movement goes through that, but I couldn't stop laughing and thinking of this South Park clip while watching some of them talk.
